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Answers For My Thoughtful Friends

In a recent discussion with a respected left-of-center friend of mine there were a lot of misconceptions about several important issues facing us in this presidential race. I felt that this was best answered in my blog because this friend is not without intellect, is well educated and is more thoughtful than many of my friends. That means there’s probably more than a few out there carrying the same misconceptions. So…here goes.

#1. A Republican-controlled congress passed Obamacare and so Congress is as much to blame as President Obama for any negative that may come from it.

#2. President Obama (with the help of Congress) made sure that our auto industry did not collapse.

A: I want to ignore the fact that bailing out any private enterprise deals disastrous consequences to the economy as a whole, but I just can’t…so let’s start with that. Just like those companies that are successful, those that are not successful MUST fail if they cannot stand on their own. This idea that a private enterprise is ‘too big to fail” is poison to a healthy economy. The whole idea of the laws of free market economics are that without interference, it allocates the efficient use of resources that have alternative uses. Bailing out auto companies that were failing just redirected resources that could have been used by other entities much more efficiently. The market system does this automatically. It’s quite Darwinian and very heartless to those who work for companies that are poorly managed and heavily unionized like GM & Chrysler. Ford did not take the bailout and is doing just fine, because they CHANGED or they were going to die…it really is that simple. Ford is a better company for it and for the first time in 25 years I have actually considered buying an American auto (a Ford) where it was just unthinkable otherwise. OK…that’s the principal of the auto bailout…it was wrong on economic principals.

A: I agree, the Bush administration did not get Bin Laden. However, neither did the Obama administration. Seal Team 6 did. And before you give me the drama about how he agonized over the decision to ‘take out’ Bin Laden, please show enough respect to admit that that “decision” was a “no-brainer”. There was only one decision to make. Obama flipped a two-headed quarter to make that decision. Period.

4. We should never have gone into Iraq.

A: At the time, I agreed with the stated reasons for going in. I won’t debate the reasons because no one will agree at this point; the facts being so muddled by the press and politicians. But my reason for going in would have been that we put him in power and that we should correct that mistake. Further, if we were going to go in, we should have laid waste to the place, killed Saddam and left. This rebuilding and nation-building bullshit is a waste of time and money. They will never “love” us and we will never ever give a rat’s ass about them (politically). Why waste time, money and more importantly, our young men & women’s lives.

5. Obama’s fight to remove the “tax cuts for the rich” is admirable and we should support it.

A: When you talk of removing the tax cuts for the rich, you are talking about raising taxes on the rich…let’s be honest. The difference between the rich and the not-so-rich is that they are smart about money. All that will happen is they will shelter their money legally and not invest it where it can help the economy. Over-taxing the rich results in one thing: revenues lost. I’m going to leave it to my hero, Thomas Sowell to destroy the the myth of “tax cuts for the rich” and other myths. Please read these two short articles: The Invincible Lie, The Invincible Lie Part 2

7. Congress has voted to repeal Obamacare 33 times when they should be voting a jobs bill.

A: Almost right…the House of Representatives has voted 33 times to repeal PPACA. Of course, the Senate, still in the hands of the Democrats, block it from going any further. It is symbolic at best, but it is the very reason the Tea Party voted in the 112th Congress…to undo that very thing. As far as it taking away the attention needed for a jobs bill, please see question #6, above.

8. People are out of work because the government isn’t doing enough to help them.

A: This is absolutely correct! All the government has to do lower taxes across the board, reduce spending to a point where we aren’t deficit spending (remove 1Trillion in spending!), sell all shares the government owns in private companies, shut down the EPA, the NLRB and remove the stifling new regulations put in since Cass Sunstein became Obama’s ‘Regulation Czar’. I will bet anyone if the Obama admin did this not only would he be reelected, but he would see the economy take off like a rocket.